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Bears: Imagination and Reality

This exhibit brought visitors face-to-face with two of North America's most captivating symbols of wilderness—the grizzly and the black bear. Mounted specimens, dioramas, and hands-on activities compared the bear of myth, art, literature, and folklore with the bear as scientists and researchers know it. The exhibit is now permanently installed at The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Montana.

From the giant grizzly to the cuddly "teddy," humans have been fascinated for centuries by bears. Consisting of five sections, this exhibition challenges visitors to develop an informed perspective on the relationship between bears and people.

Contemporary images of bears in the exhibit include a world-class collection of teddy bears, featuring replicas of two early teddy bears, an eight-foot-tall teddy bear couch, and a video monitor showing bears in cartoons.

Contemporary images of bears in the exhibit include a world-class collection of teddy bears, featuring replicas of two early teddy bears, an eight-foot-tall teddy bear couch, and a video monitor showing bears in cartoons.

The exhibit explores the natural history of the black and grizzly bears based on current scientific understanding. Visitors will see mounts of young and adult grizzlies and black bears in displays on bear habitat, food habits, behavior, and life history.

The exhibit explores the natural history of the black and grizzly bears based on current scientific understanding. Visitors will see mounts of young and adult grizzlies and black bears in displays on bear habitat, food habits, behavior, and life history.

The exhibit examines the decline of the grizzly bear in the last 300 years. Classified as a threatened species south of the Canadian border, the grizzly bear is vulnerable to many threats, the greatest of which is habitat loss and modification.

The exhibit covers the social, ethical, economic, and scientific issues surrounding bears and their future. Displays explain the causes of bear deaths, the threat to bears from habitat loss, and conflicts arising as bears move from public to private land.